Gadgets

Wahoo Bluetooth Scale Keeps Track of All Your Weigh-Ins

A Bluetooth-enabled scale is one of those gadgets you think you don't really need until you have one.

With a wireless scale you can have your weight (and in some cases BMI and body fat percentage) sent to a private account associated with the scale where you can track your weight overtime.

I had a few days to test out the newly released Wahoo Fitness Balance Smartphone Scale. And as an owner of a wireless scale, the Fitbit Aria, I knew what I'd be looking for — seamless and quick syncing, data about BMI and body fat, and a easy to navigate UI once you get to the app or site.

The Wahoo scale sends your weight data to its Wahoo Wellness app. The app does one thing and one thing only — tracks your weight. To use the scale, it requires an iPhone 4S or above, which is a bit limiting. I own an iPhone 4, so I borrowed my boyfriend's iPhone 4S. Since I was using his phone, we both shared the app, which supports multiple users — up to 16 (although you all don't have to share one app). Each person creates an account with their initials and some basic stats — age, height and weight.

The scale sends your weight data to your personal account on the Wahoo Wellness App. It's not private if you share the app, so keep that in mind if you're more secretive about your weight. When you want to weight yourself, launch the app, click on your initials and the weight data will sync. One problem I ran into with this is that you have to hold the phone while stepping on the scale — the range isn't very good. I tried twice to step on the scale one room away and it didn't sync. The internal memory on the scale is pretty good — it holds up to 130 weigh-ins, which is a nice feature if you don't have your iPhone on you.

On the plus side, set-up was quicker with the Wahoo scale compared to most of the others on the market. You can also step on this scale while wearing socks, too — this is important when you're trying to be diligent about daily weigh-ins and you live somewhere that's cold. The scale is also very accurate in its weight measurement. I was disappointed that it didn't calculate body fat percentage like my Aria, but the company says measuring body fat on a scale is typically not accurate.

The Wahoo scale also has a sleek appearance. Keep in mind it's not recommended that you step on your slick scale (any brand) after hopping out of the shower since the surfaces are super slippery when wet.

Pros: - Super lightweight with a sleek design - You can check your weight on-the-go with the app- The Wahoo scale syncs with a bunch of soon-to-be-announced partner apps too- Signing up for an account through the app is simple and fast. Just enter your email address, height, weight, gender and birthdate.

Cons:- Doesn't work for many devices.- The app only tracks weight- The wireless reach isn't very far

The Wahoo scale is compatible with iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPad (3rd and 4th generations), iPad mini and iPod touch (5th generation). It is now available for purchase for $99.

What do you think is the most useful aspect of a Bluetooth-enabled scale? Tell us in the comments.

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